Apple snail care...

This is a discussion on Apple snail care... within the Invertebrates forums, part of the Freshwater and Tropical Fish category; -->
About a week ago I got a &quot;mystery snail&quot; who I'm pretty positive is actually a female apple snail.
When I got her home ...

About a week ago I got a "mystery snail" who I'm pretty positive is actually a female apple snail.
When I got her home I kinda realized that I don't know very much of anything about how I should be caring for her. I just kinda figured she'd eat the algae in the tank and be fine but as I've been reading about snails I realize there's more to it than that...

What should I be feeding her and how often? I have cories and they seem to clean up their food before she can get to it...

She sometimes seems to have little poos or something trailing off of her, should I be concerned about that?

Does she need a buddy to be happy or will she be fine on her own for now?

I've read that they need calcium? What's the best way to help her get the calcium she needs?

Sorry for the double post, but:
I just realized that I didn't dechlorinate the water before I put it in the snail jello... Is that bad? Should I do it over/let it sit for a few days? Or will have boiling the water taken care of any chlorine issue?

You can select any fish food and any flavor of baby food that you like. Try to find baby foods with at least 4% calcium (vegetable medley has a higher %), either fruit or vegetable types are find. This is a good way to feed fish foods that are good for snails but don't sink, like freeze-dried shrimp, or fish foods that have a strong smell when cooked in other recipes. You can mix in much more than a teaspoon of fish food, and including the ingredients of a "snail trail mix" instead of a single fish food would make this snail treat more nutritionally complete.

Instructions

Open the baby food and pour it into a small bowl. Heat the baby food in the microwave for 60 seconds (caution, it will be very hot).

Stir in the unflavored gelatin (add it slowly to avoid unsightly clumps of gelatin; don't use a blender or you risk creating air bubbles that will make it float) crushing any lumps with the back of a spoon.

Pour this mixture into a dish with a flat bottom (tupperware-type containers work well; if you are doubling or tripling this recipe, you might consider a pie pan).* Fold in your fish food(s) if you are adding any.

Refrigerate for several hours, then return and cut into cubes.

One jar of baby food yields a good handful of snail treats. Keep them refrigerated until serving. These sink and hold up pretty well in the tank, but as with any food, large uneaten portions should be removed after the snails have finished. These can be frozen for up to a month.

*You can use an ice cube tray to create big treats for a tank full of snails. No slicing is needed in this case.